For many biophysicists, the undergraduate research experience is the first glimpse into the life of a scientist. The chance for a student to participate in laboratory activities – working on a project, analyzing experiments, reading papers, attending lab meetings – can build an impactful learning experience and encourage the pursuit of STEM careers. No matter what professional roles students aspire to, biophysics education can provide the necessary skills and positive experience to prepare them.
At Iona College, a Primarily Undergraduate Institution in New Rochelle, New York, Professor Sunghee Lee teaches chemistry courses while leading a lab of undergraduate students. Lee has spent over a decade cultivating a supportive learning environment for the students in her lab to engage in multidisciplinary research. Her teaching efforts have resulted in a model for a four-year research experience each student progresses through, which was recently published in The Biophysicist.
“I call it Project Symphony,” says Lee, the senior author of the paper. This name for Lee’s research group, where she’s facilitated the research experience, originates from the intention to create a cooperative learning environment where students studying different disciplines can work together to achieve shared goals. “I emphasize that everybody has a different skillset or interest, and as long as we are cohesive about it, it’s going to produce a beautiful sound.”
Lee explains that students join the research group early in their freshman year to begin what the paper describes as the first stage of the research experience: apprenticeship. At Iona, during a two-to-three-week break in academics in January, the students spend their time involved in full-time research. It’s a rare chance to freely absorb the environment and lifestyle of working in a lab without worrying about fitting in disjointed free hours in between classes.
The next stage, project development, makes the most out summer research. Students can make sustained progress by spending most of their working day in the lab and not only develop skills and concepts for advancing projects, but also bond with other members of the lab. A group trip to the ACS Fall National Conference also occurs at the end of summer, where Lee encourages students to present their work. “It definitely got me into the zone of wanting to communicate my research,” says Michelle Muzzio, first author and a former student of Lee’s Project Symphony, recalling her first time attending a conference as a freshman.
Muzzio, one out of currently 54 graduated students that have been a member of Project Symphony, went on to pursue a PhD in chemistry at Brown University and is now an editor at iScience published by Cell Press. “It probably factored into what I ended up doing because I always loved communicating my science ever since.”
Around the third year of a student’s involvement in research, with more expertise and confidence, they transition into more experienced and confident members of the lab. They start taking on responsibilities such as training newer students, maintaining lab spaces and instruments, and preparing data for presentations and publications. Finally, as seniors, students take on leadership and managerial roles to guide younger students.
The four-year research experience resembles the graduate school process and strengthens students’ skills to prepare for the STEM workforce. Besides technical abilities, they also often leave with an appreciation for teamwork, communication, and a feeling of belonging.
“I’m indebted to what the research experience gave me, which is just the confidence to start thinking about myself as a scientist,” says Muzzio.
Research environments that cultivate these values don’t need to be unusual. By disseminating the template for Project Symphony in The Biophysicist, Lee hopes that other labs at undergraduate institutions will consider creating similar programs for training future generations of scientists.
- Luyi Cheng